First, let me say that I think social media marketing is great. I’m using it more and more for my own business. And it’s obviously producing results for many others.

But I can’t help but wonder … how do people find the time to tweet all day, every day? Because I sure can’t find time for that.

Well, until recently that is, when I discovered HootSuite. If you’re not familiar with HootSuite, you’re in for a pleasant surprise.

Here at last is a simple, free, online tool that brings together all your social media accounts, including Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and makes basic social media marketing a breeze. There are other tools like this out there, but I have tried and been disappointed by most of them.

I’ve been talking to several people recently about setting up a Facebook fan page, how to get more fans, and how to use Facebook effectively.

Full disclosure: Yes, I have a Facebook page, but it’s private. I use Twitter and LinkedIn for business, but I haven’t set up a page for my copywriting business.

However, I DO run a Facebook page for the same nonprofit that I mentioned in a recent post on email marketing. It’s performing well, averaging 50 new fans a day.

The first thing people ask me is what type of account is best? A group or a fan page? For me, that’s simple. A fan page. Why? A post on Mashable about the difference between Facebook pages and groups lays out the differences nicely. Here’s a summary:

Groups are great for organizing on a personal level and for smaller scale interaction around a cause. Pages are better for brands, businesses, bands, movies, or celebrities who want to interact with their fans or customers without having them connected to a personal account, and have a need to exceed Facebook’s 5,000 friend cap.

A fan page lets you grow as big as you want, send updates to an unlimited number of people, and keep the focus on the organization without revealing the administrator (unless you want to).

Okay, so once you’ve set up your account as a fan page, then what? Here are some tips: